PURPOSE:
to characterize the vocal symptoms of future professional voice users according to age, gender and body mass index.
METHODS:
the participants answered the Voice Symptom Scale, consisting of 30 questions, 15 on the limitation domain, eight on the emotional domain and seven on the physical domain. Subjects were instructed to mark the answer that corresponded to the frequency of occurrence of each of the symptoms questioned. Data on occupational, anthropometric and general health information were also collected. The data were descriptively and statistically analyzed using the nonparametric tests Spearman correlation, Mann Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis with a significance level of 5%.
RESULTS:
the sample consisted of 47 subjects, aged from 19 to 37 years (mean of 22,17), of which 28 (59,57%) were female and 19 (40,43%) were male, the average was 11.38 vocal problems of a possible total of 30. Greater frequency was found for "you cough or clear your throat" and "you have difficulty of speaking in loud places".
CONCLUSION:
the group of future professional voice users analyzed showed high average of vocal symptoms, specially for coughing, throat clearing, and difficulty to speak in loud places, factors that are directly associated with inadequate vocal use. With increasing professional vocal demand, these individuals may be considered at risk for the development of voice disorders.
Dysphonia; Voice Disorders; Quality of Life; Symptoms; Voice
